Blue Blood: OKC Blue Members Excel Against 76ers

Talent is ever-flowing in the NBA G League, and for the Oklahoma City Thunder – they have started to take advantage.

Throughout the 2021-2022 regular season, Thunder GM Sam Presti has looked towards the NBA G League route more so than ever before. In Presti's transaction tally, he's assigned eight members of the Thunder’s roster to their affiliate, the Oklahoma City Blue, while awarding their top contributors with a shot of a lifetime – an NBA opportunity. Throughout the season, five dreams have become realized with members Olivier Sarr and Rob Edwards netting NBA debuts.

On Friday, this tally of NBA newcomers swung to six, moving recently inked guard Lindy Waters III his first crack at the big stage.

Waters III, who only saw his name called for 54 seconds on Friday still caught himself in some valuable repetitions. And with a supporting cast loaded with Blue mainstays – he was right at home.

And as for the Blue battalion – they took over in Philadelphia.

After falling 19 points in the fourth quarter, Mark Daigneault appeared to have thrown the towel. With Josh Giddey and Lu Dort out of play – he called upon his “bench mob” – the batch from the Blue.

With a five-man lineup consisting of four prior assignees in Vit Krejci, Aleksej Pokusevski, Theo Maledon, and Ty Jerome, the run was a go. Opened off a subtle Pokusevski three-ball, the Blue-infused four trotted out make-after-make. In the Bricktown buildup, Doc Rivers called upon his starters, headlined by Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey to put the game out of reach. Instead, the trio, now trimmed of Jerome, spurred out five-consecutive inside shots before a Maledon three sunk the cut the deficit to six as the game ticked three minutes.

In full, the run drove a 16-3 run in just over five minutes.

Despite losing the contest 100-87, the former stack of G League members willed this game from a potential blowout to a 48-minute slate in the Cradle of Liberty.

With Thunder members playing a round of revolving door with the Blue – picking out the routine G League pieces from the rest of the pack holds some significance. In this stint, all three of the Blue’s crucial cogs in the last month played – and they played well.

Headlined by Pokusevski’s 15 points, the trio of him , Krejci, and Maledon churned out 16 of the Thunder’s 26 fourth-quarter points, slashing the pot on a 7-of-12 clip.

The Oklahoma City Blue have become a petri dish for Thunder members and G League members alike waiting to post a breakout. Through Grant Gibbs’ system, Thunder assignees have tacked on some much-needed reps to bolster their development – and, as flashed on Friday, the plan has looked to have gone par to the course.

Pokusevski, Krejci, Maledon, and Waters III are all expected to be active in Saturday’s back-to-back capper against the Chicago Bulls.

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